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sciencehabit writes with good news for cat owners everywhere. From the article: "Last year, cat owners got a scare when a team of French researchers reported a possible link between felines and brain cancer. Cat feces can harbor a single-celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, and the scientists found that nations with higher rates of human T. gondii infection also have higher incidences of brain cancer. A new study challenges those findings [paywalled after the first view]. Scientists examining a cohort of more than 600,000 British women found that cat owners were no more likely to develop brain cancer than their cat-free counterparts, despite their presumably greater risk of exposure to T. gondii."
The study in question mostly just found that T. gondii infection rates aren't correlated with cat ownership after all, but there's still no word on whether our friend the parasite causes cancer or not.

A cat infected with toxoplasma gondii will excrete the parasite in the feces for some days (weeks) after first infection, and then will stop doing it forever.Most toxoplasmosis infectiosn in humans are due to consuming uncooked meat or poorly washed vegetables.

The study in question mostly just found that T. gondii infection rates aren't correlated with cat ownership after all, but there's still no word on whether our friend the parasite causes cancer or not.

Then I'd suggest the headline should be Cats May Not Be Linked To Brain Cancer After All. For where the cats go, so goes toxoplasma and we should know well enough, unless we're Reader's Digest or Prevention magazine, not to jump to a conclusion that the study did not demonstrate.

The study demonstrated that there is no correlation between cat ownership and brain cancer. So the headline is, in fact, correct as is and yours is completely incorrect. Your headline would only be correct if there was a slight correlation, but none whatever was found.

Cat ownership is linked to cats. People who don't own cats are far less likely to come in contact with their excrement. If cat owners have no more cancers than non-cat owners, then you can't say there's a link between cats and cancer, which is exactly what TFA said.

People who don't own cats are far less likely to come in contact with their excrement.

Not necessarily true. People that own cats know the excrement is there and take appropriate precautions. People that don't own cats aren't going to be watching out for cat excrement in their yards and gardens.

I happened to be looking at this yesterday after hearing an NPR story. It turns out that T. gondii [wikipedia.org] is actually a mind-altering parasite. It reproduces in the guts of rodents, and then in order to get back into its preferred cat hosts, has actually evolved to alter the brains of rodents [wikipedia.org] to make them find the odor of cats sexually appealing. Yes, you heard that right.

It puts a whole new spin on all those Tom & Jerry cartoons, now doesn't it?

Of course your next question is if it does something similar to infected humans. Supposedly, it has been shown to cause a statistically significant increase in car accidents among the infected. Perhaps that study will be countered too though.

Studies have also shown behavioral changes in humans, including lower reaction times and a sixfold increased risk of traffic accidents among infected, RhD-negative males, as well as links to schizophrenia including hallucinations and reckless behavior. Recent epidemiologic studies by Stanley Medical Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University Medical Center indicate that infectious agents may contribute to some cases of schizophrenia. A study of 191 young women in 1999 reported higher intelligence and higher guilt proneness in Toxoplasma-positive subjects.

So yes, there is good reason to believe that this can affect human brains as well. What precisely the effect is hasn't been determined yet though.

Where are the times when science was about actually discovering new things, where you could actually see the effect of it?

Keep in mind that your personal view of science is determined by the pop-culture articles you read, or in this case the pop-culture summary of a pop-culture article referring to a particular scientific paper. I assure you that the "times when science was about actually discovering new things" are still upon us.

They didn't want their evil plot revealed. Probably they just did some genetic engineering on the virus to affect the researchers' judgement. There's plenty of evidence the cats have this capability. I used to find stray bird parts and decapitated rats disgusting. Now I consider them "cute".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/quotes [imdb.com]
Gavin: Tommy knew he'd caught the virus, but he never knew he'd gone full-blown.
Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: What was it, pneumonia or cancer?
Gavin: No, toxoplasmosis. Sort of like a stroke.
Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: Eh? How's that?
Gavin: He wanted to see Lizzy again. Lizzy wouldn't let him near the house. So he bought a present for her, bought her a kitten.
Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: But Lizzy told him where to fucking stick it.
Gavin: Exactly. "l'm not wantin

You really must read other works by Irvine Welsh; Filth, Ecstasy, Marabou Stork Nightmares, Acid House. All fantastic and wickedly insane novels. It's like an abscess in your fiction, but a worthy one.

I guess they forgot to factor in the fact that higher infection rates might indicate worse healthcare, worse pollution levels, worse overall sanitation, a climate more friendly to pathogens, and a generally more cancer-inducing set of circumstances before they drew a line straight from cats to cancer. Wow, slashdot makes me feel like a better than average paid, professional, career scientist every day:-P

Glad that's out of the way; though toxoplasmosis and
schizophrenia [sciencedaily.com] don't seem too appealing either.

I may be blind to the more profound, esoteric aspects of the cat, but I do marvel at what high prices some will pay for a haughty ball of animated fur.
My suggestions to curb this perilous market are as follows, but first and foremost, it could become unlawful to possess an unshaven cat. This would discourage the majority of prospective cat ownership, as no healthy person wants a five pound worm with claws and fangs.

Exchanges, or replacement-cats would be comprised of internal motors, synthetic fur shells with a stuffable, washable center into which they could be figuratively "fed", and an exit module by which they could also be un-fed.
Some form of appropriately colored reusable putty would be included in the exchange. This putty would serve two purposes:
1.) To supplement food, thus saving money and resources and one's nose.
2.) To be placed into a litter-box for a genuine looking effect.
For the lower-maintenance, upgrade model, a wireless link would be installed. Through a very cute web interface, owners could enter credit-card numbers and refill codes to control the figurative health of the cat. It would bloat or compress upon signals received in accordance with funds transferred or not transferred. The cat would in extreme situations of over or underfunding, either gently explode or implode, but show only trivial, charming contractions under normal circumstances. There would of course, be settings, such as adjustable mewing, retractable thorns to cut one's self on or destroy furniture with, etc.

You have shattered the capstone of my argument with the cudgel of reality. Alas, people are more insane than I feared. Worms endowed with phantasmagorical agility and slashing weapons! Behold a wicked world!

* Your Research: Conclusion: A is correlated with B (=0.56), given C, assuming D and under E conditions.* University PR Office: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Scientists Find Potential Link Between A and B (Under certain conditions)* News Wire Organizations: A causes B, say Scientists.* The Internets: Scientists out to kill us again* Cable News: A causes B all the time (we saw it on a blog). What will this mean for Obama?* Local Eyewitless News: A: KILLER AMONG US? More at 11.* Your Gran

* Amateur Internet Cynic: Obviously all scientists are full of it since this one scientific conclusion was misreported by journalism majors.* Producer of A: Damn my sales are down, I'd better buy a congresscritter, and some PR.* Republican Think Tank: Cretinous Scientists get it wrong again! 9 out of 10 of our relatives with correspondence school degrees agree A is totally harmless.* Republican Senator: We have to cut all funding to useless scientific research on any alternatives to A. And mandate the us

Yeah, that's cats for ya'. Dog's attitude on seeing you come home, "All right! I love you!! You're the greatest!!" A cat'll just glance over at you with a look that says, "Leave a message. Maybe I'll get back to you."